Hey John! This is Dave from Radiant. How are you? We missed you last night for our Basketball and Sermon Recap group. Do you think you’ll be able to make it next week? We meet on Tuesdays at 6:30pm at Julian B Lane park!

Hey Susie! I’ve sent you a few texts about our group through Radiant. We are bummed you haven’t been able to join us over the last few weeks, but totally understand that things come up! Since I haven’t heard back from you yet, I’m going to go ahead and remove you from our group so we’re not sending you info you might not be interested in. If you do still want to join us or any other group in the future, just reach out! Would love to help you get connected!

1. Lead the next question with the statement: “Someone who hasn’t had a chance to share….”
2. A lot of times, people don’t even realize they are doing this. They may even be trying to help fill the silence or move the conversation along (a little silence is okay–some people need time to think before they’re ready to share!) 

We recommend having a face-to-face conversation with the person before or after the group. Just pull them aside for a quick one-on-one conversation. If you do this, it is very important that you lead with gentleness and grace and also that no-one else will overhear this conversation. You could say something like this:

“Hey Steve, you have so many great things to share in our group! I’m so glad you are so willing to jump into our discussions each week. I have noticed that there are several people in our group that aren’t quite as quick to share and I was wondering if you could help me create some opportunities for them to share too?”

1. If you are comfortable with confrontation and feel confident that you can interrupt in a way that is well-timed and not discouraging to that person, you could also do this. Please note that this is not the preferred method as there is a lot of room for it to be more hurtful than it is helpful. 

If what they say reflects on something the person is working through or not clear on, but wouldn’t cause someone else in the group to be confused in their own beliefs, get coffee or a meal with that person and have a conversation about it! Chances are, they would appreciate someone to process through these questions with and get insight from another person who can help them. 

If what they say is clearly contradicting Scripture or our beliefs at Radiant, a gentle way to address it is to say to the group: “That is an interesting thought. Does anyone else have thoughts on what Ann just shared?” Oftentimes other people will chime in and redirect the conversation while still keeping it a group discussion. Other members might also bring their own questions to the table on this topic. This is a good thing! Just make sure that you give closure or clear direction on what Scripture says on the topic before you move on.

Important notes: 

1. There are several things in Scripture that are not “black & white”. This means that someone may have a different belief than you or other members in your group that isn’t necessarily Biblically incorrect. Be careful that you, and the members in your group, aren’t “majoring in the minors”! It’s okay to come to different conclusions on things that aren’t clear. Your role as a leader is to make sure we maintain a “safe” and encouraging environment for group members to continue to share. 
2. This is one of the reasons why we encourage everyone at Radiant to go through Foundations! If you aren’t sure what the Bible says or our stance as a church, reach out to your Groups Director and we will help you.

• Ask them to read a Bible verse you will discuss
• After a few others have shared, ask them what they are thinking. When they respond, make sure to affirm them/thank them for sharing!
• Create an opportunity for everyone to say something at the beginning with an ice-breaker/get-to-know-you question.

1. Open the Church Center app
2. Open your group
3. Click on the “events” tab
4. Tap on the “take attendance” button and select anyone who is in attendance.

Attendance opens a few minutes prior to the scheduled time of your group meeting.

Here is a video tutorial of how to do this as well:

Attendance is trackable data that allows you and our Groups team to measure the health of your group, and especially groups across all of Radiant. (It really does provide us with a lot of information!) And it only takes a minute or less to do! 

For you as a group leader, being able to see patterns in attendance of group members allows you more insight into the needs of your members. A couple of examples:

1. Someone can only attend every other week, their attendance may look less consistent initially, but you’ll see overall that they are, in-fact, committed to your group. This information provides a conversation point for you to shepherd that member! 
2. Someone attended the first 4 weeks but then stopped attending & says they’ll make it every week, but then they don’t – this gives you the opportunity to follow up with what may be going on with that member and help them take next steps or provide them prayer and care. 

Have them fill out a connect card on weareradiant.com/connect

We encourage groups to be held in homes or in our local community. While church buildings are sometimes available, they are on a first come first serve basis and are not always the best option for hosting a group as we have many other church events that may hinder your group meeting abilities.